Machine for operating on sheet material



Dec. 21, 1937. E. E. WINKLEY MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHEET MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1954 UAIQ 2; w m

Dec. 21, 1937. E. E. WINKLEY MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 um I 24 VE {EV Z3175;

. m mvrw I Ba MM Patented Dec. 21 1937 UlTED STATS ,itateo Erastus E. Winkley, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Tater-son, N. 5., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 15, 1934, Serial No. 730,707

21 Claims.

This invention relates to dieing-out machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for dieing-out sole blanks from sheet material such as rubber.

Heretofore, in dieing-out blanks from sheet material, such as rubber of inferior grades, considerable difficulty has been experienced in readily producin satisfactory blanks. This has been due partly to characteristic properties of rubber which cause the material to be considerably compressed and distorted by the cutting edge prior to penetration and which frequently result in irregularities in the marginal portions of the blanks produced.

' It is an object of the present invention to provide improved mechanism for operating with dies upon sheet material in an economical andexpeditious manner. To this end, and as illustrated, theinventionprovides a machine comprising a cutting bed and a cutting die together with a member for forcing the die toward the bed stepby-step to perform a cutting operation upon sheet material supported upon the bed. Preferably, and as shown, the die is mounted for movement heightwise of the bed and is forced toward the bed by a cam, there being provided a wedge member for transmitting the force exerted by the cam to the die.

By the construction above outlined the die can 30 be, forced gradually into the work, as distinguished, for example, from the forcing of a die into work by a sudden application of force such as by a blow. It has been found that this manner of operating upon sheet material is advantageous in that layers of material are penetrated progressively, largely eliminating any tendency to distort the material. Furthermore, less power is required to operate the machine and the noise and vibration are correspondingly reduced.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view, partly in section, of a cutting machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the die operating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the clutch for controlling the die operation; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the invention.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated 5 inFig, 4 of the drawings wherein is shown a cutting die 2 resting upon sheet material 3 upon a support t, a rotatable cam 5, and a Wedge 6. positioned between the die and cam. The arrangement is such that, upon engagement of the high part of the cam with the wedge, the Wedge is moved downwardly-by a distance equal to the throw of the cam causing the die 2 partially to penetrate the material 3.- As the high part of the cam moves away from the wedge, the wedge is moved by a spring I inwardly between the die and cam until the thickness of the wedge compensates for the distance the wedge and die have been moved downwardly. This cycle of operations is repeated upon successive rotations of the cam with the result that the die is forced through the material in a series of steps.

The construction above outlined is preferably embodied in a machine which, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and '2, comprises a frame It] carrying a bed 92 on whichis supported a cutting block i4. Arranged ior-movementheightwiseof the cutting block is a die it herein illustrated as a sole die for producing blanks from sheet materiaLsuch as layers of rubber stock I8,supported upon the cutting block .l l.

The die 16 is supported by a plate or carrier 2!! which is provided with lugs 22 arranged to engage flanges 24 on the die. The die plate 20 with the die 15 is normally held in a position above the surface of the cutting block I4, thereby to permit location of sheet material beneath the die prior to a cutting operation. To this end the. die plate is provided with a stud 26 which engages a pair of links 28 loosely mounted upon a rod. 36 extending lengthwise of the machine and supported at its ends by brackets, only one of which is shown, and being indicated by reference character 32. The plate 20 is provided with an upstanding rib 3d, the upper end of which terminates in a fork 3% which carries a second stud 38. The stud 38 is engaged by a pair of links 40 loosely mountedupon a rod 42 also carried by the bracket 32, The studs 26 and 38 are centrally located relatively to the die and. are positioned one above the other substantially in a plane parallel to the rods 30 and 42. The links 28 and it are of the same length and consequently the die plate is movable angularly about the axes of the-rods 30 and but the plate is constantly maintained parallel to the surface of the cutting block l4. By this con--' struction the die It carried by the plate can be moved into engagement with the cutting block with the-assurance that all portions of its cut- 2 ting edge will engage the cutting block at the same time. 7

For controlling the position of rest of the die relatively to the cutting bed there is provided a shaft 44 rotatably mounted in the brackets 32 and having secured thereto a cam 46 arranged to engage a roll 48 carried by an arm 50 integral with the links 40. When the high part 52 of the cam 46 engages the roll 48 the arm 50 is rotated counterclockwise, raising the plate 20 connected thereto. As will be hereinafter described, this construction is such that the machine will stop with the cam 46 in the position shown inFig. 2, thus to locate the die in raised position when the machine is at rest. Upon rotation of the cam 46 the roll 48 will drop from the high part 52 thereof and permit movement of the lever 50 and the links 28 and 40 in a clockwise direction during which time the die is free to move downwardly toward the cutting block I4.

For forcing the die I6 toward the cutting block use is made of a continuously rotated cam 54 carried by a shaft 56 and arranged to engage a 'roll 58 mounted at theend of a striking member 60 carried by an arm 62 pivotally mounted upon the rod 42. Arranged for movement into and out of position between the striking memb'er'60 and the die plate 20 is a cam or wedge'64 pivotali 1y carried by the stud 38. The upper surfaceof the wedge is curved upwardly and outwardly, as indicated by reference character 66, and is adapt ed to engage a flat surface 68 on the underside of the striking member 60. The wedge constitutes a pressure transmitting member and is arranged to be moved progressively inwardly beneath the striking member by mechanism later to be described. 7 a

To facilitate movements of the wedge beneath the striking member the forward edge portion of the member is beveled, as shown at I0, and a spring 'I2 is provided continuously to maintain the striking member in engagement with the cam 54. The cam 54 is made to'rotate at four or more times the speed of the cam 46 and is operable to oscillate the striking member 60/ When the wedge 64 is swung into position beneath the striking face 68 force applied by the cam will be transmittedtoi the die plate with the result that the die will be forced downwardly toward the cutting block. 7 V

For controlling the movements of the wedge 64 there is provided alink 13, one end of which is pivotally connected to the wedge 64, and which 7 has a reduced portion extending into a sleeve 14, the link and the sleeve being yieldably held together by, a spring 15 which surrounds the reduced portion r the link 13 and extends between a pin 16 thereon and a shoulder 11 on the sleeve.

The sleeve 14 is pivotally connected to an arm of a bell crank lever'lB mounted on the shaft 19. The lever I8 is actuated by means of a cam 80 7 arranged to engage a roll 82 carried by the other arm 84 of the lever I8. When the machine is at rest a high part 86 of the cam' maintains the lever I8 in such position that the sleeve '14 positively holds the link I3 to the right, inFig. 3, with the result that the wedge 64'is held in inoperative position, as, shown, out of the path of oscillation of the striking member 60. During rotation of the cam 80, after the roll 82 has dropped from the high part 86 of the cam, a spring 81 is operative to rotate the lever 18 in a direction to cause the sleeve 14' operating through the spring 15 and link 13 yieldingly to force the wedge links 40 and die the cam thus to permit inward movement of the wedge until the rise of the wedge'at the line of contact between surfaces 66 and 68 will prevent further inward movement. Further rotation of the cam 64 will result in downward movement of 64 inwardly into engagement with the member a the wedge, the die plate 20 and the die I6. Upon subsequent revolutions of the cam this cycle is repeated until the highest part of the wedge has been engaged and forced down by the face 68.

Manually controlled means is provided for initiatingoperations of the cam 80 in causing operation of the die I6. To this end the shaft 44 is arranged to be driven by a pulley 88 through the medium of a lever controlled clutch 90. The clutch 90 comprises a plate '92 arranged to be driven continuously and having raised teeth 94 adapted to be engaged by a pawl 96 pivotally mounted upon acollar 98 secured to the shaft 44. The pawl 96 is urged toward the plate 90 by lever I02 is providedwith a laterally extending flange I06 having a' curved cam surface I08 terminating in a shoulder III'I against which the pawl 96 normally contacts. When the lever is depressed the pawl 96 is disengaged from the shoulder III], permitting the spring I00 to force the pawl toward the plate 90 and as the plate rotates the pawl is engaged by one of the teeth 94, resulting in the rotation of the pawl and shaft 44'. Atthe' end of a single rotation of the shaft the pawl is withdrawn by engagement with the cam I68 and the shaft is brought to rest with the pawl against the shoulder H0. 7

The shaft 56 is driven by a power pulley II2.

In order' to prevent distortion of the shaft 56 under the forces which it applies to thelever 60 the shaft is carried by a bracket I I4 having a flat uppersurface engaged by the under surface IIB of a frame member I I8 supported by rods I20, the construction being such as to prevent any appreciable movement of the shaft in a direction away from the cutting bed. a V

In the operation of the machine sheet material such as rubber stock I8 is placed upon the cutting block I4 in' operative position relatively to the 'die I6 which is held in raised position above the cutting block by means of the 1ever'50 engaged by the cam 46'. Upon depression of the lever I02 the clutch is operated to cause rotation of the cam 46, releasing the lever 50 and permitting movement'of the die I6 which drops down upon the work. The cam 80, also rotated by the shaft 44, causes operation of the lever 14 to force the wedge 64 progressively beneath the member 60 and as the cam 54 rotates the die is forced down- 7 wardly step-bystep through the material. Continued rotation of the shaft 44 results in the raising of the die and upon releaseof'the pawl 96 the shaft 44 ceases to rotate, at which time the high part 52 of the cam46engages" the lever 50 to maintain the die in raised position and the cam 80 has caused operation of the link 14 to move the'wedge64 into inoperative position.

Having des'cribed'my invention, what I claim 75 as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a bed, a die mounted for movement toward and away from the bed, a rotatable cam, and a wedge movable inwardly between the cam and the die independently of the rotation of the cam for forcing the die step-by-step toward the bed.

2. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a die, a rotatable cam, a' wedge between the die and cam arranged to transmit to the die pressure resulting from rotation of the cam, and means for moving the wedge step-bystep to introduce progressively thicker portions of the wedge between the die and cam.

3. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a bed, a tool carrier mounted for movement heightwise of the bed, a rotatable cam, a wedge pivotally mounted upon the tool carrier, and yieldable means for moving the wedge progressively past the cam.

4. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a cutting bed, a die mounted for movement toward and away from the cutting bed, a rotatable cam, and means for transmitting force exerted by the cam to the die arranged to force the die step-by-step through sheet material supported upon the bed.

5. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a cutting bed, a die yieldably supported above the bed, a rotatable cam, a striking member continuously in engagement with the cam, and a wedge movable between the striking member and the die for transmitting the force exerted by the cam to the die in operating upon sheet material supported upon the bed.

6. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a bed, a die mounted for movement toward and away from the bed, a wedge carried by the die, a striking member for engaging the wedge, and a cam for applying pressure to the striking member. r

7. A machine for operating. upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a die pivotally mounted upon the frame for movement toward and away from the cutting bed, a rotatable cam, a striking member pivotally mounted upon the frame, means for holding the striking member continuously in engagement with the cam, and a wedge carried by the die mounted for movement into engagement with the striking member for transmitting force exerted by the cam to the die.

8. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a die carrier mounted upon the frame for movement toward and away from the cutting bed, a die mounted in the die carrier, a rotatable cam, a member pivotally mounted upon the frame for engagement with the cam, a wedge member mounted upon the carrier for movement into engagement with the pivotally mounted member, and means for moving the wedge member into and out of engagement with the pivotally mounted member.

9. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a plurality of links of equal lengths pivotally mounted upon the frame, a die carrier secured to the ends of the links, a die secured to the die carrier, means for normally holding the die in position above the bed, and means operable upon the initiation of a cutting operation for releasing the die.

10. A machine for operating upon'sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a pair of shafts secured.- to the frame and extending with their axes parallel to the bed and in the same vertical plane, links of equal lengths each having one of its ends pivotally mounted upon one of the shafts, and a die carrier secured to the other ends of the links.

11. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a'pair of shafts extending parallel to the bed and having their axes in a plane normal to the bed, a plurality of parallel links of equal lengths secured to the shafts, a die carrier secured to the ends of the links, a die secured to the die carrier, and means for normally maintaining the die in position spaced from the bed comprising a cam and a link one end of which is secured to one of the parallel links and the other end of which engages the cam.

12. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a die carrier pivotally mounted upon the frame, a cutting die secured to the carrier, a rotatable cam for forcing the die carrier toward the bed, a pressure-transmitting member mounted for continuous engagement with the cam, and a wedge movable from an inoperative position to an operative position in which the wedge is positioned between the die carrier and the pressure-transmitting member.

13. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carried by the frame, a die mounted upon the frame and arranged for movement toward or away from the cutting bed, means for forcing the die intermittently toward the bed comprising a cam, a pressure-transmitting member continuously engaging the cam member, and a wedge insertable between the die and the pressure-transmitting member.

14. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a work support carried by the frame, a die mounted upon the frame for movement heightwise of the work support, a power-operated cam, a wedge insertable between the cam and the die for transmitting force from the cam to the die to force the latter through material carried by the work support, means normally operable to hold the die spaced from the work support, and cam mechanism operable in sequence for releasing the die-holding mechanism and. subsequently causing operation of the wedge.

15. In a machine for operating upon sheet material, a cutting bed, a frame, a plurality of links pivotally mounted upon the frame, a die carrier supported by the links and movable about the axes of the links successively to different positions heightwise of the bed, a continuously rotatable cam for forcing the die carrier toward I the bed, and means movable into position between the die carrier and the cam for causing the dieing-out operation.

16. A machine for operating upon sheet material, comprising a frame, a cutting bed, a die pivotally mounted upon the frame and movable successively into different positions heightwise of the frame with the cutting edge of the die parallel to the surface of the cutting bed, a cam normally operative to maintain a die in raised position above the bed, manually operable means for causing operation of the cam to release the die, and means subsequently operable to force the die into engagement with the cutting bed.

support, means for transmitting force from'the cam to the die, and mechanism operable in timed relation to the cam for'causing the operation of r the die. 7 r

18. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a work support carried by the frame, a die mounted for movement heightwise of the work support, a power-driven cam, means for transmitting force from the cam to the die to force the die through material upon the work support comprising a pressure-transmitting member in the form of a wedge, a cam for controlling movement of the Wedge into and out of operative position relatively to the powerdriven cam, means normally operative to hold the die spaced from the work support, and means operable at the beginning of the cycle of operations of the machine to release the die-holding means. 7

19. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a work support, a die mounted for movement heightwise of the work support, a rotatable poweredriven cam for applying pressure to the die, a wedge pivotallymounted upon the die and arranged for movement "into alinement with the cam, a yieldable link for moving,

the wedge into and out of alinement with the cam, and means for moving the wedge into operative position'early in the cycle of; operations of the machine and for moving it into inoperativeposition after a cutting operation of the die.

20; A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a bed, a die mounted for movement toward and away from the bed, power means arranged to oscillate continuously heightwise of the bed, and a connection between the power means and the die operable during a plurality of successive oscillations of the power means to cause the die to approachthe bed in a succession of discontinuous movements of definite predetermined length in the samedirection.

21. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a bed, a die mounted for movement heightwise of the bed; continuously operated power means movable heightwise of the bed, and a pressure transmitting member located between the power means and the die and constructed and arranged to take up the space therebetween during successive operations of the power means for causing the die to approach'the bed in a succession of discontinuous movements each of definite extent in the same direction. r

ERASTUS E. 

